


Steven Universe and the Transformers: Til All Are One

by DaniPhandom



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-07-14 15:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16043471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniPhandom/pseuds/DaniPhandom
Summary: [Warning: This fic contains SPOILERS circa A Single Pale Rose]In the early days of the two races, Rose Quartz once asked Orion Pax for aid in her war. Pax could not provide it. Now, as the war rages on, Optimus Prime is forced to find the Crystal Gems, for their aid against a threat to the continued existence of the Autobots and Crystal Gems alike. But will Steven, rattled by a personal failure, and Pearl's disappointment with the former Orion Pax, jeopardize their attempts to join forces, and save everything they love?





	1. Prologue: Shattered Hopes

**Author's Note:**

> Standard 'I Own Nothing' disclaimer. This fanfiction has been brewing in me about two years, I can't believe Steven finally reached a place I could firmly place it without worrying about more reveals. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying finally writing it!

 

Iacon, Cybertron, Several Thousand Years Ago.

 

The notification screen blinked red, caught in the the Cybertronian’s sight as he entered the room. The slim archivist sighed as he made his way back into the office of the Council Advisor of the Militia, closing the door. It was getting more and more frequent as of late. More situations as the ‘civil unrest’ caused by a certain gladiatorial champion became less ‘civil’ and flirted with open treason, more emergency communiques that he had to screen and present. The frequency, however made Orion Pax pause with no small dismay. This was the personal frequency of the Pink Diamond of the Diamond authority- one of the four leaders of the Gem homeworld. A leader long dead, cycles ago. Nevertheless, a familiar face filled his screen, glowing and changing to a smaller, if much more alarming visage.

“Orion Pax. My friend. I hope to reach you in good health- and I regret that I reach out to you like this. I'm certain by now word has reached you of my own 'death', and of the rebellious Quartz who shattered what you thought was myself. I trust you with this truth for a much more pressing disaster..”   
It was of all things- a Rose Quartz.  _ The _ Rose Quartz. The gem who  _ murdered _ Pink Diamond. Pax’s optics flickered, flabbergasted.   
“There’s much to explain, and I wish I could tell you in person how much I’ve learned, how far we’ve come, how beautiful this place is…”   
Her eyes shone as she spoke, in a way Pax had never quite seen on the face of Pink Diamond- who while cordial and ever a spirited negotiator, had always seemed a bit full of herself and immature.

“...but time cannot be spared. What I can explain is this. This planet- this insignificant ball of soil, sod and minerals, and the life it contains- have opened my eyes to the injustice we do towards not only the life that inhabits those other planets, but to so many who we lead. I share this with you because I know you would understand my standing against the plight Homeworld inflicts on people for being different- on lives that society doesn’t want to acknowledge.”   
The words struck awfully close to home- reminding Pax of how the council had long treated those whose alternate function was less than productive.   
“I beg your support, Orion. The war is eating us alive, piece by piece. I have seen friend after friend shattered. The Crystal Gems need aid- supplies, support, anything you can spare. Without aid, it’s possible none of us will live- that this planet will be left another lifeless husk, pockmarked with stolen lives. Speak of our plight to your council, Orion. Help us ensure freedom-not for Pink Diamond, that isn’t who I am, not now or ever again- but for all sentient beings.”

The words were an echo of arguments he himself had put to the council in recent years- as the Energon crisis loomed, and eyes turned to the stars for the precious fuel that bred Cybertronian life. His spark was heavy in his chest, as Orion Pax began to digest the contents of the urgent message. What it meant for one of their closest stellar neighbors- and what aid would mean for their own little insurrection. He had never approved of the intensity of the caste system the gems had employed- but the narrative of this Rose Quartz rang too close an echo of Megatronus for the council to ever seriously consider aid. It would serve only to make hypocrites of them all- sending aid to an insurrectionist group, all the while managing the damage one continued to cause to their own society? Even as a bot who had never seen battle- Orion Pax could see the war to come- and that if the Autobots were split, they would be over- finished before it began.

  
  


Millenia later…

 

Beach City. The planet Earth. 

Still spinning gracefully through its orbit around its star. Life was amazing when you took the time to think of it that way.

_ Rose never seemed to need to  _ stop _ to think about it that way, _ Pearl mused, as she hung the laundry up on the line.  _ So much loss along the way, but here we still are. Seeing the potential she saw unfold- seeing real life find its way into an advanced civilization, with aspirations to the stars. _

She sighed, looking down to the beach- where Steven sat, looking out to the horizon with a hand on his phone. She frowned. Steven had managed to really disappoint Connie, but it was all because of his own care for her. She hoped Connie would realize this sooner rather than later- when Steven thought he’d failed someone before, he’d tended to overcompensate, but with the silent treatment, lately he’d just directed it all inward. It was hard seeing him that way.  _ I should talk to the others, and Greg. Figure some way to get his mind off it,  _ she decided, as she hung the last shirt on the line, taking a moment to nod at her finished work and appreciate the smell of fresh laundry.

 

The weight of what Connie had said still hung in the mind of Steven Quartz-Universe, as he watched the waves come in.

_ “...but  _ I’m _ hurt!” _

The words had cut him to the quick. Connie had never questioned him, or doubted him- she was always there. She had believed in Steven, and- and now he’d managed to hurt her. He looked to his phone- before turning it facedown.

_ No. I came out here to think. To breathe. _

_ Take a moment to think of just— _

He couldn’t. It didn’t  _ work _ alone- not now. Not when  _ she _ was at the root of it. He checked again- nothing. Just a ‘delivered’ under his last text. 

_ Maybe she turned read notifications off. _

He sat it down, and it buzzed but- 

“Your breakfast friends are crying- help them solve their emotional problems.” 

He sighed, disabling notifications for ‘Crying Breakfast Match-3’.

He looked to the sea- to the sky- and noticed what looked a star shooting across it. Except- it was  _ pretty big _ to be a star… and it seemed to get bigger before disappearing behind the skyline of the city.    
“...Well, Steven, at least it’ll keep you distracted from the wait,” he muttered, putting it in his pocket as he rushed back toward the temple to tell the other gems what he’d seen.

 

Onboard the Ark, Optimus Prime sat in the command chair. They were a small crew- and with good reason. It was the most that the Autobots could spare for a last ditch effort like this. He turned to the helm console as their curved craft made its way down toward the area of the planetary surface where the ship’s console detected the unique signature of Rose Quartz.    
“Annnd that’s another three point landing!” piped the cheerful yellow bot sitting in the helm controls.   
“Good job, Bumblebee,” Optimus nodded with a small smile hidden below his faceplate.   
“A scan of the area suggests a plentiful number of vehicles that would make good alternate modes, Prime,” Jazz reported from the comms post.   
“Good. Rose Quartz indicated there was life here- and it seems it’s become advanced. Let’s hope that means she won her endeavor- because if she can’t help us, we may have just doomed it.”


	2. Chapter One: Communication

Greg’s van sped- insomuch as a Parry Vanini was able- through the night streets of Beach City. “You sure we should be going toward the thing that fell from space?” Greg asked a bit nervously.    
“Relax, Greg,” Pearl replied from the rear of the van, “Whatever it is, it’s probably not looking for us- or at least not from Homeworld. They would have been  _ much _ more precise in their landing strategy and assault.”

“...besides it’s probably not here on purpose-just like the last time we had something like this happen!” Steven added, knowing that was probably a bit more comforting than reminding the fact that Homeworld now knew where they lived.

Amethyst gave a small chuckle and grinned, pulling free her whip and tugging it between her hands.“Whatever it is, we’ll show it who’s boss and send it packing!” Always full of bravado, on the outside- even when she wasn’t feeling as brave as she seemed.

Garnet didn’t speak. She was focusing, trying to look through the possible futures. So many options, so many possibilities, meditating over the most likely and novel choices possible.

Greg swerved a bit as a form in the middle of the road passed over the van, slamming the breaks into a mild swerving drift- watching as the form shifted into a perfect mirror of his own van in the rear-view. He turned to Steven in the passenger seat- “You ever see anything like that in space, Shtuball?”   
He shook his head. “No, that’s new-gems don’t do that usually, right?.”   
The doppelganger van had made a sharp turn back toward them, and was now driving their direction. “Garnet, what should we do?”   
“I-- I don’t know,” she admitted, uncertain. “That is definitely not a gem, that is a very good observation, Steven.”   
Greg didn’t like the sound of any of this- so he did the most sensible thing he could think of. “Hold on!” He said with a wry, cheerful tone made high with real anxiety. He floored it, down the road away from his van’s mysterious doppelganger.

As they sped down the highway- Steven saw it. Peaking above a field on the outskirts of town, a tall, orange-gold ship- vaguely semicircular, and with far too much actual panel lines and signs of technology to be of the more sleek and often organic-looking Homeworld design. “Stop the van,” Steven asked, tentatively, brows knit in a thoughtful look. Greg looked to Steven with a concerned look, but pulled to the side of the road- other traffic seeming to converge on the van as they did. A red and blue cabover stopped, from the oncoming, flanked by a yellow New Beetle and a white Himitsu X-12 covered in blue and racing stripes- semi-circling Greg’s van, along with the other van. Steven opened the door tentatively, stepping outside the door. “Uh, hello,” he addressed the assembled vehicles,looking and noticing none of them had drivers. “Do you, uh, want gas or something?” he said, with a bit of a nervous laugh.The panels on the cabover began to shift, and rumble, as slowly, it became something more than met the eye.   
_ T _ _ sche-chu-chu-chu-tsch! _

All around, the vehicles were shifting, rising- into humanoid robotic forms perhaps 15-20 feet tall. The gems flooded out of the van- not quite preparing for a fight but more than a bit on edge.   
The former van creaked and stretched as it rose. Its face appraised him with apprehensive blue optics, a chipped red crest on its forehead showing what seemed a rather aged metallic face, with sunken jowls.   
The beetle seemed much younger, its yellow head adorned with horns and a hopeful grin in its clean silver face.   
The Himitsu’s eyes were hidden- behind a visor- with a crested helm. It smiled with a laid back coolness that couldn’t help but remind Steven of Garnet.

Less readable was the tallest of the four- the cabover, that had unfolded into an imposing figure, blue optics with tight knit brows staring down, face hidden behind an angular mouthplate.

“Pink Diamond,” he addressed, “It is my own regret to bear that I come so long after failing to aid you.”   
Steven blinked, dumbstruck. He looked to the Crystal gems- all in similar states of confusion- except for one. Pearl’s face was a mixture of guilt and rage.

“How  _ dare _ you,” she began, approaching the robot, “Rose told you everything. She needed you! And you never even  _ responded! Where were you?! _ ”

Tears welled in her eyes. “People are shattered and  _ worse _ , Orion Pax. You’re too late to help anyone.”

Amethyst watched, heavy scrutiny on Pearl. Had she not heard who this dude seemed to think Steven  _ was _ ?   
Garnet shook. Pearl wasn’t objecting. “Pink Diamond?” she questioned. “ _ Pink Diamond?! _ ”   
She glowed slightly, before letting out a soft groan, pulling together. She couldn’t let that sidetrack her now. Not when she didn’t know everyone was safe. She hummed softly to herself. Steven didn’t miss it, turning toward her, touching her comfortingly. She gave a weak smile

“Uh, excuse me, giant robot guy, but… what are you talking about? I’m not a Diamond.” Steven pulled up his shirt. “See? A Rose Quartz. My mom’s Rose Quartz. I’m Steven, by the way.”

There was a pause and a realization as the cabover took a knee, observing Steven more closely. He was hardly even half the size of the Rose Quartz form that had contacted him so long ago.   
“...I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, the remaining bastion of freedom on our planet, Cybertron,” the cabover introduced himself, “Accompanying me now are our medic, Ratchet-”   
The old bot nodded.   
“Our scout Bumblebee-”   
The yellow bot gave a pair of fingerguns at the gem group.   
“And our communications and alien culture expert, Jazz.”   
The visored bot gave a grin and made a heart with his fingers.   
“A lifetime ago, your mother- Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond, asked the ‘bot I once was, Orion Pax, for aid in your own great war,” Optimus continued.”The civil war on Cybertron was just beginning, and so, I could not help. But things have changed, Steven Quartz, and it has become worse than anyone has imagined. The Decepticons have allied with your mother’s homeworld, and even now they’re on their way to obliterate this place as a show of good faith alliance. I seek your help- that both our kind may survive.”   
The air was heavy with tension for a few moments, gem eyes turning between Pearl, Steven, and the looming presence of the Autobot leader. 

“So… let me get this straight. You’re space robots with your own civil war, which is why you didn’t help the Crystal Gems before… but now Homeworld’s tied up in yours, and you want us to help?” Steven asked.

Optimus gave a small nod.“Their combined forces will ensure our defeat- but their first symbolic target is this place. I cannot let my own past failure condemn a planet of sentient beings.”

Steven managed a bit of a frazzled grin, one that nearly reminded Pearl of his father.    
“Then we better get to work, huh?”

Pearl winced, though she was grateful on some level for a distraction from the big verboten  _ thing _ that Prime had just plopped in the middle of it all.

“Better convene in the Ark. If everything here’s your size, I don’t think we’d be able to fit where you cats hang,” Jazz commented with a smirk. 

Steven looked to the gems. “...all respect, guys, I think given… what just got laid out, we might be more comfortable close to home.”

Prime nodded. “Very well, Steven Quartz. Lead the way… Autobots, transform and roll out!” 

The group took their mobile forms- and without the pressing concern their initial sight had been, Steven couldn’t help give a bit of a grin.

“That.. is so cool.” He led the others back to the van.  There was a long silence as they got back on the road.

“...so, uh.” He gave a nervous chuckle. “I don’t guess any of you know what Optimus was talking about when he called me Pink Diamond, huh?”

Pearl looked guilty, biting her lip. Her thin frame shook like a leaf. “I thought I was the only one who knew, that Rose even  _ told _ -!”

“You knew.” Garnet fumed, finally losing the struggle to keep it together. In a flash of white light, the two small gems tumbled. Ruby took a dive toward Pearl, standing on the seat and grabbing her by her shirt, pressing the lanky gem into the van wall.

“How, how could you keep that from all of us? Why was she using us like that?”

“... _ she wasn’t using you! _ ”

Pearl’s voice was thick with emotion, eyes welling. “That much I know for certain. Pink Diamond loved Earth, and Rose Quartz loved us. All of us. It’s why she gave up  _ everything _ to  _ fight _ the other Diamonds, for our freedom! Not just mine and hers!”

Amethyst shrugged and stretched out thoughtfully. “...I mean, would you have listened to what Rose Quartz was saying if it was coming from a rogue diamond? Wouldn’t it have sounded like a power grab?”

Sapphire looked down, her hair obscuring her singular eye, speaking thoughtfully. “There were so many outcomes where she put herself in the line of fire,” she mused, “she lied, but… her convictions were hard to question.”   
“...Because we didn’t know all the information!” Ruby replied, aggravated.   
_ Man, it was getting hot in here. _ Greg tugged the neck of his shirt, realizing he was sweating. He  raised a hand in the front seat, “Uh, for the moment can we please focus on calming down a little bit?”    
Pearl nodded with a bit of a nervous expression, “Yes, please, this van’s a wheeled metal box powered by tiny explosions, and I don’t think this is going to turn out well…”

Ruby’s face tensed as she let out a frustrated growl, but let go of Pearl, walking to the other bench seat. “ **Fine!** I’ll walk!”   
She  turned, took a few steps, opened the door, then stormed out of the back of the moving vehicle and onto the road.

“Ruby…” Sapphire spoke, her voice a whisper as she stared out the open door. 

Steven reached to her shoulder.

“We’ll get her back and figure this out together, I promise Sapphire.”


End file.
